Dunnage conversion machines, also referred to as converters, generally convert a sheet stock material into a strip of dunnage. Some converters produce a dunnage product primarily intended to fill voids in a packaging container to prevent the contents from shifting during shipment. These machines typically operate at relatively high speeds. An exemplary dunnage converter is disclosed in International Patent Application No. PCT/US01/18678, published under Publication No. WO 0194107 on Dec. 13, 2001, and International Patent Application No. PCT/US03/12301, filed on Apr. 22, 2003.
Dunnage converters typically have a severing assembly that uses at least one moving cutting blade to sever discrete dunnage products from the strip. As an alternative, weakened stock material, usually perforated stock material, has been used. Whether the stock material is perforated, or the strip of dunnage is perforated after formation, the perforations form weakened tear lines that allow a packer to tear or otherwise separate dunnage products from the strip by hand, as is disclosed in U.S. Pat No. 6,033,353.
The '353 patent also discloses a mechanism for automatically tearing dunnage products from the strip. After the converter produces the strip, the mechanism for feeding the stock material through the converter stops. A pair of holding assemblies then pinch and hold the strip at locations spaced along the length of the strip. One of the holding assemblies then moves relative to the other holding assembly to effect tearing of the strip along a perforated tear line, thereby automatically separating a discrete dunnage product from the strip.
Another feature of many dunnage converters in use today is that they are bulky and consume a large amount of valuable floor space. To minimize the floor space occupied by the dunnage converter or to deliver dunnage products at or from an elevated position, converters have been mounted on stands at elevated positions. Some of these converters are mounted for rotation about a vertical axis, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,696. Other converters are mounted on stands that are adjustable in height and allow the converter to pivot about a horizontal axis to vary the direction in which the converter discharges the dunnage products, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,209.